Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp (NASDAQ:CTSH) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,449 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock, valued at approximately $504,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Shine Investment Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 108.8% during the 4th quarter. Shine Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,512 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $121,000. Cerebellum GP LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $128,000. WFG Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 46.4% during the 2nd quarter. WFG Advisors LP now owns 1,958 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $137,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.87% of the company’s stock.

Get Cognizant Technology Solutions alerts:

In other news, CFO Karen Mcloughlin sold 9,482 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.24, for a total transaction of $684,979.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,200 shares in the company, valued at $3,770,928. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Francisco Dsouza sold 482,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.04, for a total value of $34,723,280.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 621,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,783,161.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 994,079 shares of company stock worth $73,129,749. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CTSH shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 19th. Barclays increased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 30th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Citigroup increased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, November 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.32.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp (NASDAQ:CTSH) traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $78.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,123,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,009,083. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 3.29 and a current ratio of 3.21. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp has a twelve month low of $57.00 and a twelve month high of $79.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $46,150.00, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.11.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The information technology service provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.15. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 19.94% and a net margin of 10.15%. The business had revenue of $3.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. equities research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp will post 4.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.81%.

TRADEMARK VIOLATION WARNING: This news story was first published by Dispatch Tribunal and is the sole property of of Dispatch Tribunal. If you are reading this news story on another site, it was copied illegally and reposted in violation of U.S. & international copyright and trademark laws. The correct version of this news story can be read at https://www.dispatchtribunal.com/2018/02/14/calton-associates-inc-takes-position-in-cognizant-technology-solutions-corp-ctsh.html.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company Profile

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation is a professional services company. The Company operates through four segments: Financial Services, Healthcare, Manufacturing/Retail/Logistics, and Other. The Financial Services segment includes customers providing banking/transaction processing, capital markets and insurance services.